Let words guide you home
by Laternenlicht
Summary: Everytime something goes wrong, Hogan is able to correct it with his words. What if they leave him one day?
1. prologue: words

Prologue: Words

Words have meanings. Ask a dictionary, it will tell you. Words are statements, words are facts.

Colonel Robert Hogan has always believed in words.

Or at least in their meaning. Words have served him his entire life. He used them to make people do what _he_ wants without them noticing it. He was good with words.

One day he started realising that there was more about them.

Corporal Peter Newkirk has always doubted words.

Or at least dictionaries. He knew that there was more about words, but he never understood. Nevertheless, he tries, so the words followed him until one day.

Then they caught up with him and led him to what they really are.

Colonel Robert Hogan. Corporal Peter Newkirk. Two people who understood the words in different ways. Two people whose life will change because of words. Because they slowly start to understand.

Two people. A lot of words. And a lot of things to talk about.


	2. chapter 1: alone

Author's note:

Hey there! My first fanfiction, mainly written to improve my English writing style. Please note that I'm no native speaker (except from the bit of German that will be used later) so please correct my mistakes^^

This story is inspired by a part of "The bookthief" by Markus Zusak.

And we all know it: The characters are not mine, just the idea.

Chapter 1- alone

_alone- being on one´s own, by oneself; having no other present; unaccompanied (source: Oxford English dictionary)_

It sounded easy when Kinch received the message from London.

"A truck will cross the Düsseldorf bridge this evening at 2200 hours. It contains plans of the new German planes. We need these plans."

Hogan looked at his watch and sighed. "They don't give us much time, do they?"He sighed again.

Four hours are long enough for him, Newkirk thought. He sat on his bunk and tried to write a letter. It didn't really work because he simply didn't know how to start.

"Ok, then simple. If they couldn't use the Düsseldorf bridge, they would have to take the Hammelburg road." Hogan took the map that Carter brought. "There is an old checkpoint on this street. I think we'll reopen it."

The others looked at him, not sure what to think about this plan.

"Come on, while their papers are inspected, we can take photos of the plans."

"And how will we make them use the road instead of the bridge, mon colonel?", LeBeau asked. Hogan smiled and looked at Carter. "We'll blow it up."

Carter looked at him with shining eyes. "Really? That's brilliant. This bridge will go down like...like eh...a bridge. Just..."

"Andrew?", Newkirk interrupted, "Just hold it."

Looking disappointed, Carter turned to Hogan who explained the details.

"Kinch, contact the Underground, we need two people at the checkpoint. LeBeau and I will take the photos. Kinch, Carter, you'll blow up the bridge and meet us near the road. Then we'll go back to camp. All right?" Hogan looked his men in the eyes.

"Always",Carter confirmed.

"Sounds easy, Colonel", Kinch said while climbing down the ladder.

"All right", LeBeau agreed.

"What about me?", Newkirk asked, wondering if Hogan would leave him at the camp.

"You sit at the table and write your letter. Will work better than on your bunk, trust me. Or do you want a secretary?", Hogan answered. Everyone smiled except from Newkirk who rather was annoyed. Jumping down from his bunk, he said: "I'm fine guv'".

"Are you?", Hogan asked.

Newkirk wasn't sure himself, but he wasn't going to stay in camp. "Sure", he finally replied.

Suddenly, Hogan took Newkirk's right hand and carefully pressed the thumb down. Newkirk groaned in pain.

"Ah, I see", Hogan shook his head, "You need rest, you know?"

"I didn't move my hand for two weeks", Newkirk protested.

"You'll need at least two months. When we are out there, I want everyone fit. It is better for you and for us if you stay here. And don't tell me it's nothing. Tendinitis is not helpful on a mission."

Newkirk knew that Hogan was right, but he _felt_ that there was more about this mission. He could always rely on his instinct, and now it warned him that something was wrong. After a moment, he gave in.

"Right, guv'"

"Fine, then we'd better start preparing", Hogan decided.

"Schultz is coming", Carter suddenly said. He was right, the German guard entered the barrack a few seconds after the warning.

"Achtung!", Schultz yelled. Then he saw the heroes standing around the table and asked: "What is going on here? Colonel Hogan, you're not planning any of your monkey business, please? "

"Ah Schultz, no no, just a little walk around the woods. To the Hammelburg road. Nothing to worry about", Hogan said, smiling when he realised the Sergeant's face looked shocked. Newkirk felt sorry for the guard. It's not easy with Hogan in the camp.

"I know nothing. Nothing.", Schultz whispered.

"Then, would you like it better when I say that we're just watching Newkirk writing a letter with his left hand?", Hogan proposed.

Schultz looked happy. "I'd like to see that", he smiled.

Forget your sympathy, Newkirk thought. "Hey, my letter is private", he complained.

"You didn't even start, mon ami. We'll just read: "Hey, how are you? I am as fine as I can be as a POW"", LeBeau said.

"Thanks for the introduction. I didn't know how to start." Newkirk took the piece of paper and the pencil from his bunk and sat down at the table. Then he wrote:

Hi Jen.

How are you? I am fine, I think. Sorry I haven't written to you yet.

He could hear the others whisper in surprise. That made him smile despite the uncomfortable feeling he still had.

"I am once more impressed by your skills", Hogan said.

And Carter added: "You can write with your left hand?"

"I can do everything with my left hand, buddy, as good as with my right one, nearly. I am out of practice, but I am ambidextrous you know?", Newkirk explained.

"Come on, don't lie. You are not", Carter said.

"Sure I am."

"Colonel Hogan, Kommandant Klink wants to see you in his office", Schultz said, apparently remembering why he was in the barrack.

"Then I'd better not let him wait. You know what to do", Hogan looked back at his men.

"Yes, sir", everyone, even Newkirk, replied.

After Hogan had left, Carter picked up the discussion again. "You're not ambitrexous. Either you are left- or right-handed. You can't be both."

"Andrew, I am. I know it."

"André, just leave him. You know him, he always tells tales", LeBeau interrupted.

"Okay, mates, here we go. My dominant leg is my left one...I think. My dominant eye is my left one, I am sure about that..."

"There is nothing like a dominant eye", Carter complained, but Newkirk went on, "...but I have no dominant hand. My mother got me tested when I was six."

"If you say so", LeBeau smiled.

"Don't you have to work?", Newkirk asked, knowing that both of them wouldn't believe him. And he needed his concentration because he still didn't know how to write his letter. He knew _what_ to write; however, he also knew he wouldn't finish the letter tonight.

A few minutes after lights-out, Hogan, Kinch, LeBeau and Carter headed towards the ladder. Newkirk stopped them just before they reached it.

"Be careful, please", he said. The feeling that something was going to go wrong had increased during the past hour and was now more of a panic.

"Nothing to worry about, Newkirk, it's an easy mission. We'll be back at one or so.", Hogan said and then climbed down the ladder. The others followed him downstairs, only Carter hesitated for a moment and said: "Keep calm, boy. Everything is fine. Piece of pie."

Carter was in the tunnel before Newkirk had the chance to correct the saying. He sighed, then closed the entrance and jumped on his bunk, trying not to hurt his thumb.

While lying in the darkness, Newkirk couldn't sleep, so he thought of his childhood. His mother had given him a dictionary as a present on his ninth birthday. This dictionary still stood in his flat, he often used it and even _read_ in it nearly every day. In a POW camp in Germany, he now remembered the explanation for alone. Being on one's own, by oneself; having no other present; unaccompanied. The hell he was. He was surrounded by ten other prisoners in here, but he was alone right now. He always knew that his dictionary was wrong, he just couldn't prove it until now. As it turned out, a bunk in a German POW camp was the perfect place to start his own dictionary. And of course, the word was "alone".

_alone-the feeling of being left behind_

I have corrected some mistakes, thank you very much! But now I have a problem...I'm singing "Ich geh' mit meiner Laterne", too=)


	3. Chapter 2: silence

Thanks for the nice reviews!

chapter 2 - silence

s_ilence - The fact of abstaining or forbearing from speech or utterance (sometimes with reference to a particular matter); the state or condition resulting from this; muteness, reticence, taciturnity (source: Oxford English dictionary)_

After they had changed into black, Hogan, Carter, LeBeau and Kinch left the tunnel and made their way through the woods to meet the Underground agents. It was a warm night in spring and the sky was full of clouds. When Hogan saw two people in German uniforms, the four ducked behind a tree but were seen by the Germans. Hogan was relieved when he recognised two Underground agents, Walter Bauer and Johann Herder.

"Your uniforms are very convincing, gentlemen", Hogan said to the men who smiled as a reply.

Kinch and Carter left them, they had to go to the Düsseldorf bridge to blow it up in time. Meanwhile, Hogan, LeBeau, Bauer and Herder went to the old Checkpoint. In fact, it did look as if it was still in usage. There was a manual barrier and a little hut, nothing special but perfect for their purpose.

Hogan looked at his watch. Ten minutes to ten. So far, so good. In the distance he heard a noise. Kinch and Carter had done their job.

"LeBeau, let's get into the woods", Hogan ordered.

For a few minutes – that seemed like an eternity for everyone – everything was quiet. The silence surrounded them so that they barely dared to breath. Hogan used this time to think of the argument he had with Newkirk. He had thought that the Corporal was just bored. Now Hogan realised that there had also been concern in Newkirk's eyes. In the dark woods while he was soaked with silence, Hogan started to understand Newkirk's worries.

The time for thinking ended abruptly when a truck came down the road. Behind him, Hogan could hear Kinch and Carter coming to his and LeBeau's position.

The truck slowed down when the driver saw the barrier. Finally, the truck stopped.

"Ihre Papiere, bitte", Herder said.

The driver gave them to Herder who went to the hut to "check" them. Hogan and LeBeau, two shadows in the dark, were already in the back of the truck. All they saw was ammunition at first, but then LeBeau found the plans. Using a torch to illuminate the darkness, they took photos of each paper and put it back to where they found it, all without a sound. Still soaked with silence.

At first, nobody noticed the black car. When they did, it was to late. The car had driven its way a few minutes behind the truck. Now it has reached the checkpoint, too.

Three men jumped into the truck. Obviously they had seen the light. One of them had a torch straightly shining into Hogan's and LeBeau's eyes. The others seemed to have rifles in their hands.

"Aha, look what we've found here", the man with the torch said.

"Major Bergmann, hier draußen sind noch zwei!", someone shouted from outside.

Kinch and Carter.

"Are there more than you four? Who are you?", Major Bergmann asked.

Despite the situation, Hogan still wasn't able to break the silence. But this time, the silence was in his head. And his mind was not soaked with silence but wrapped in it so that it couldn't even realise that there was more than this mind-freezing silence. Hogan could not think of any word to say.

It was the first time he didn't know what to say or how to react. His mind was stuck. His body appeared unable to move. From this position he did not see a way out of this.

"You don't want to talk? No matter, I know a nice place where we can speak. And you will speak.", Major Bergmann menaced.

Hogan wasn't impressed by this threat, he was far to surprised and confused. He saw his men staring at him, apparently wanting a plan. He felt the weight of responsibility sitting on his shoulders but he couldn't help. He had no plan.

It was quarter past ten. It was a warm spring night. The clouds prevented the moon and the stars from shining on the earth.

A few Germans caught four men who obviously were spies.

These few Germans brought their prisoners away.

Two German Underground agents looked on helplessly as they left.

And Hogan's mind was finally able to think one word.

_silence – the absence of any noise or thought_

Translation of the German phrases:

Ihre Papiere, bitte - your documents, please

Major Bergmann, hier draußen sind noch zwei - Major Bergmann, there are two more out here


	4. Chapter 3: responsibility

Hey, I'm back^^

I know it took some time for this chapter, sorry for this. But here it is, have fun reading.

chapter 3 – responsibility

_responsibility- the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or of having control over someone (source: Oxford English dictionary)_

"What?"

Newkirk heard Baker as he entered the tunnel. He hadn't been able to sleep, he hadn't been able to write, he hadn't been able to stay in the barracks either. So he had decided to visit Baker, who watched the radio while Kinch was away. Newkirk wondered what might have upset Baker.

The radioman listened carefully to the message he was receiving.

"I can't believe that", Baker said.

"What's up?", Newkirk asked. The panic he had suppressed the past hours came back at once.

"The Underground agents who had been at the mission reported that Colonel Hogan and the guys were captured", Baker summarised the message.

"What?", Newkirk exclaimed. He had the right feeling. Now he was shocked. He couldn't really believe what he had heard. And somewhere in his head, he heard the question: What now?

"Who captured them?", he asked. It was important to know everything, even the most unimportant fact. The guv' had always said so. Wait, he isn't dead, Newkirk reminded himself.

"Wehrmacht", Baker answered.

"Not the Gestapo?" Nekirk was surprised. Spies were normally an issue for the Gestapo.

"Not yet, but I think it's just a matter of time", Baker analysed. Then there was silence. Both men were thinking about the problem.

"What if they say anything?", Baker suddenly asked. Newkirk saw fear in his eyes, but he himself was also afraid. The whole operation was in danger. And, more important, his best mates were in danger.

"The Underground also said that they will let us know if the Wehrmacht contacts the Gestapo. And they're preparing to evacuate", Baker slowly added.

"We should do the same", Newkirk realised. How much time do we have? How much time do _they _have?

"We are going to evacuate the camp?", Baker wondered.

"Not if we can prevent that. Contact the Underground and asked them for details. Who exactly caught the guys, where they are now...everything that's known to them."

Baker smiled. "All right", he answered.

Newkirk went to the ladder. His mind was racing. An evacuation had to be planned, but he also had to think of a way to get the guys back.

He got into the barrack, woke everyone and explained the situation.

"Nobody will come tonight, there was not enough time for the Germans to figure something out. And you know the guv', maybe he'll come up with a crazy plan and the guys are back in the morning. But if we have to evacuate the camp, we must be prepared", Newkirk finished. During his speech, he thought of a solution for an evacuation. "Okay, we'll do it this way. The highest-ranked man in every barrack works on an evacuation plan for everyone in his barrack. They have to take care of fake documents, escape routes and meeting points."

No one argued. Newkirk didn't know if it was because no one had a better idea or because everybody still was too shocked. He didn't care, for he was working on a plan to rescue the guys already. Wait, why do I do so? I'm just a corporal, he suddenly thought. There were indeed many men who outranked him, but when he looked in the faces around him, he saw young men that were forced into war. Like him. The Colonel was their leader. A man all of them had respected. And now the Colonel was away and needed help himself. The men were uncertain. They needed a new leader. And because he had worked with Hogan for so long, Newkirk was the man. He suddenly felt overwhelmed by the responsibility.

"You should sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day", Newkirk proposed. No one protested. No one really slept either. Nevertheless everyone lay quietly in his bunk when Baker finally climbed into the room. He gave a note to Newkirk, who in turn sent Baker to bed.

Newkirk didn't sleep that night. He studied the note Baker gave him. And slowly, a plan started to form in his mind.

"Roll call! Everybody out out out!", Schultz yelled into the room. The men slowly left the barrack and positioned themselves in front of it. Everyone was tired. Additionally, Newkirk had a backache.

The morning was cold but clear. There were few clouds so the sun shone into camp as if everything was fine.

"Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs...", Schultz counted, but then he stopped. "Where is LeBeau, were is Carter, and where is Colonel Hogan?", he asked.

"You forgot Kinch", Newkirk alerted him. Normally the expression on Schultz's face would have made Newkirk laugh, but this was no normal morning. "You remember the little walk around the woods? Looks like the walk is going to be a little longer", he explained emotionless.

"Report!", Klink yelled and came over to the group.

"Herr Kommandant, ehm...there are …. four prisoners missing", Schultz admitted.

Klink at first looked sceptical, then glanced over to the eleven prisoners and finally gave the command to search for the escapees. After that, he came over to the prisoners.

"Where is Colonel Hogan?", he asked angrily.

Where you would never expect him, Newkirk thought. "He's missing."

"I can see that, I mean where is he going?", Klink shouted directly into Newkirk's ear.

Good question. To an execution? After the interrogations, of course. These thoughts nearly made Newkirk cry. The team had been in dangerous situations before. But none was more desperate than this one. Maybe Colonel Hogan could think of a plan. But suppose the guys were forced to speak somehow. In that case, Newkirk would be the only one of the core team to survive. He just wanted to cry. But he didn't. Instead he laughed.

Klink looked distracted. "Why are you laughing?", he asked sharply.

"I don't know. I'd prefer crying, really." Newkirk still chuckled.

"What do you mean?", Klink wondered.

"Colonel Hogan didn't take me with him, so how could I know where he is going?", Newkirk explained. Some dogs barked outside the camp. But they won't find the Colonel.

"Fine. Everybody stays in the barracks", Klink ordered.

"Until?", Newkirk wanted to know.

"Until the war is over!", Klink exclaimed angrily. Then he turned around and walked back to his office.

The prisoners returned to Barrack two. Schultz accompanied them. "When is Colonel Hogan going to come back?", he asked.

"We're working on that", Newkirk replied, wondering if they really had a chance to help before it was to late.

"_You _will bring him back?", Schultz wondered. Suddenly, everyone in the barrack stared at Newkirk who swallowed.

"You don't want to know this", Newkirk whispered.

"You're right", Schultz confirmed. "Just do it fast, will you?" The guard left and Newkirk closed the door without an answer. Feeling the weight of responsibility sitting on his shoulder and overwhelming him, he turned to the men. "Okay, we'll do it this way..."

_responsibility- the feeling that everyone relies on you_


End file.
